Reality Check
by Melrian S. Windrunner
Summary: Kristofer Schade, whilst escaping an enemy the likes of which he has never seen, jumps into a portal. He emerges in Remnant without any knowledge of how he wound up there.
1. Prologue

Kristofer nearly slammed into a wall as he veered around a corner. He didn't dare look back at his pursuers, for fear that he might trip in the eerie twilight that filled this seemingly endless labyrinth of concrete hallways.

_How could this have happened_, he wondered. _Less than a day ago I was relaxing in Florida!_ Careening around another corner, he nearly ran into his red haired partner; Katie. Wait, no, that's not right. He saw Katie die just a few minutes ago!

Kristofer narrowly dodged to the side as the mimicry of his former comrade lunged at him, snarling like some rabid beast. Quickly whirling around, he brought one of his two steel cudgels down on the back of the abomination's head before continuing his flight down the hallway.

"_Running is futile," _a deep voice reverberated around him. "_In the end, you will die like the rest of your squad._"

"Not on my watch," Kristofer muttered to himself.

In the distance, a light appeared in the semi-darkness. As Kristofer approached it, he found it to be a swirling white vortex in the middle of a doorway. Looking back, he saw two more shadows of his now deceased comrades running full tilt towards him down the corridor. Without another second of hesitation, he threw himself into the vortex.

"_NOOO!_" the voice screamed in fury, but it was too late. Kristofer had vanished, the vortex blinking out behind him.

* * *

**Okay, this story will be a completely new concept for me. I can't go any farther into it due to spoilers, but I ****_do_**** promise that the rest of the chapters will (usually) be MUCH longer.**


	2. Chapter 1: Ruby Rose

Kristofer woke with a start. Looking around, he found himself in some kind of warehouse. Quickly, he leapt to his feet, raising his cudgels in a defensive stance. Once he determined that there weren't any hidden attackers, he put them back in the sheathes at his sides. _How in the world did I get here, _Kristofer wondered. _Last I remember I was relaxing on the beach in Florida._

The warehouse must have been abandoned for quite some time, if the moonlight streaming through the gaping hole in the roof is anything to go by. _Wait a second!_ Kristofer glanced up at the moon again, his eyes widening in shock. The moon was fragmented into pieces! But, how could that be possible? Unless…no…but that's the only thing that makes sense! "Where on earth, no, where in the _universe_ am I?!"

After calming down, Kristofer decided to leave the warehouse. Once outside, he found himself on what appeared to be a city street in France. As he walked down the street, he peered at his reflection in a shop window. What he saw stopped him in his tracks. Gone was his military cut blonde hair, replaced by jet black hair that fell to his shoulders. His once blue eyes were now green, and even his skin tone had lightened somewhat, if that were possible. But the most shocking part was a long black monkey-like tail protruding from the back of his jeans. As he thought about it, the tail moved in front of Kristofer's face, allowing him to examine it. "Can this day get any weirder?" he muttered, looking at his black shirt, jacket and jeans, which, Kristofer noted, had _not_ changed.

While Kristofer walked along, deep in thought, he failed to notice that he had walked right into someone else's path. "Out of the way kid," a voice said as Kristofer was roughly pushed to the ground. Looking up, he identified the speaker as a white-clad man wielding a cane for seemingly aesthetic purposes. He wore a black bowler hat on top of his orange hair. Trailing the man were roughly half a dozen men wearing suits, top hats, and red sunglasses.

Observing the way the gang walked, Kristofer figured that they were a bunch of thugs up to no good. So, he decided to tail them so he could figure out what they were up to. Moving from shadow to shadow, he followed them to a shop whose sign read "From Dust til Dawn". As he watched, one of the suited men pulled a gun on the shop keeper. Kristofer than began to sprint towards the shop to intervene. However, he pulled up short when a girl in a dark red outfit with a bright red cloak tackled one of the suited men (whom Kristofer assumed to be the bowler hat guy's lackeys) through the shop window. She then proceeded to pull some sort of device off her hip. It then unfolded into a huge red scythe that dwarfed the girl in comparison. At the top of scythe, Kristofer noticed with curiosity, was what appeared to be a gun barrel.

Shaking himself out of his trance, he ran up alongside the girl, cudgels held at the ready. "Mind if I lend a hand?" he asked. Before she could answer, the rest of the bowler hat guy's lackeys rushed the pair of them with swords. One took a swing at Kristofer, but his sword was deflected by Kristofer's cudgel. The goon was then knocked out cold as Kristofer brought his other cudgel up to whack him upside the head with a resounding _thwack! _Out of the corner of his eye, Kristofer saw another crook aiming a gun at him. He barely managed to backflip up a wall, out of the way of the thug's shot. He then launched himself from the wall at the gunman, tackling him to the ground before bringing a cudgel down on the guy's head.

Meanwhile, the girl had aimed the gun barrel behind her, and fired. The recoil propelled her into a spin, swinging the scythe at one of the goons, dispatching him easily. She then proceeded to slash at one and then launched herself around the scythe (which she had embedded in the ground), using her momentum to deliver a devastating kick to the final thug's face.

When Kristofer rejoined the girl, the leader had stepped out of the shop. Looking down at his lackeys, he muttered something unintelligible. Dropping his cigar on the ground, he crushed it underneath his cane. "Well, kids," he began. "This has certainly been an eventful evening. And, as much as I'd like to stick around," he then proceeded to point his cane at the pair of them, the end flipping up into some kind of crosshair. "This is where we part ways." Both Kristofer and the girl barely managed to get out of the way as he fired what looked like a projectile from a flare gun that exploded upon hitting where they both had been standing.

When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of the man. "There!" the girl shouted. The criminal was climbing a ladder on the side of a building on the other side of the street. "You okay if we go after him?" Kristofer asked the shop keeper, who replied with a, "Mhmm."

When the two of them reached the top of the roof, the girl called out, "Hey! Stop right there!"

The man stopped at the opposite edge of the rooftop. A second later, a VTOL craft (which actually looked a lot like a pregnant V-22 Osprey) rose up high enough for the guy to jump in. Turning around, he shouted, "End of the line kids!" and threw a red crystal at the pair's feet before immediately firing another shot from his cane at it before either of them had time to react. Right before the projectile impacted, a blonde-haired woman wearing a white blouse, black pants, and a bizarrely shaped purple cape, landed in front of them. In her hand, which she had raised in the direction of the VTOL, she held what appeared to be a wand emanating a large purple rune. The rune served as a shield, absorbing the energy of the explosion.

Pushing her spectacles up the bridge of her nose, the woman waved her wand in an arc, sending a cluster of purple projectiles crashing into the aircraft on all sides. _Looks like my day just got weirder,_ Kristofer thought as the woman then summoned a hailstorm of razor sharp crystals which cut through the craft's hull like a knife through butter.

Suddenly, a woman in a sheer red and gold dress (whose face was hidden by shadows) appeared in the craft's troop bay (bowler hat guy had since gone into the cockpit). She held her hand palm-up in front of her face. Suddenly, a flame appeared in her hand which she then thrust in a fireball at the witch guarding the pair. Quickly, she threw up a shield, protecting herself from the fireball. She then flipped backward as the red-clad witch caused the ground where she was once standing to erupt. The good witch then waved her wand, causing the shrapnel from the explosion to float off the ground like some great, glowing purple worm. Waving her wand again, her creation charged straight at her attacker, who shot several fireballs at it. The shards separated for an instant before reforming and continuing on its path. The pilot barely managed to angle the wings so that it ricocheted harmlessly off the craft. The "worm" then split into three, snaking their way around the craft. The red-clad witch quickly crossed arms and then spread them wide, emitting a blast that disintegrated the shard creatures.

The girl, seemingly eager to assist, collapsed her scythe into a bolt-action sniper rifle. She then proceeded to fire three shots, all three bouncing harmlessly off the attacker's hand. The attacker then waved her hand, causing the ground underneath all three of them to glow orange. Quickly, Kristofer grabbed the girl and jumped away while the witch leapt for safety as the ground once again erupted in a pillar of flame. The three barely had time to look up before the ship quickly flew away.

Walking up to the witch, the girl said in awe, "You're a huntress!" Then, in a tone that would've made a giddy schoolgirl sound normal, she begged, "Can I have your autograph?!"

**_An hour later…_**

The wit…err, Huntress, took Kristofer and the girl to a room that reminded Kristofer of a police interrogation room. There was a table in the middle, and one ceiling light that lit up only the center of the room. The rest of the room was in shadow. Once the pair was inside, the Huntress closed the door, locking them in.

Unwilling to spend an indefinite amount of time in an awkward silence, Kristofer decided to break the ice. "Would you mind telling me your name?"

The girl looked up from her hands, momentarily surprised by the sudden question. "Ruby," she said meekly. Then, with a lopsided grin, she asked, "Would you mind telling me yours."

Kristofer chuckled. "Not at all. I'm Kristofer. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking."

"Fifteen."

"Whaa?!" Kristofer spluttered. "You're only fifteen and you're using a weapon like _that_?!" He pointed at her sniper/scythe.

"Yeah…" Ruby said slowly. "What's wrong with that?"

Before Kristofer could respond, the door slammed open. It was the Huntress again. She proceeded to slowly walk around them whilst giving them a lecture. "I hope you both realize that your actions will not be taken lightly," she said. "You put yourself and others in great danger."

"They started it!" Ruby protested.

Completely ignoring Ruby's outburst, the Huntress went on, "If it were up to me , you'd be sent home with a pat on the back…and a slap on the wrist." To emphasize her point, she fiercely brought the end of her wand down on the table, eliciting a startled shriek from Ruby. "But," her tone softened. Kristofer almost thought he heard defeat in her voice. "There is someone here who would like to meet you."

The door opened once again, this time admitting a grey-haired, spectacled man wearing a green and black suit. In one hand, he held a cup of coffee, and the other held a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Unlike the Huntress, whose manner was as stern as a military sergeant, he had a more welcoming, almost grandfatherly feel about him. "Ruby Rose," he began, inspecting Ruby closely. "You…have silver eyes."

"U-umm…" Ruby stammered, unsure of how to respond to such a random comment.

He then indicated what looked like an iPad in the Huntress's hands. On the screen was a video of Ruby fighting some of the thugs. "Where did you learn to do this?"

"S-Signal Academy," she replied hesitantly.

Surprise lacing his voice, the man went on, "_They_ taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"

"Well, one teacher in particular."

"I see." He then placed the plate of cookies on the table in front of her. Ruby cautiously took one cookie, then, seeing that it was okay, looked questioningly at Kristofer. He gave a "no thank you" gesture. She then proceeded to shove the rest of the cookies into her mouth.

With his back to the table, the man said, "It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that level of skill before: a dusty old Qrow."

Ruby attempted to say something, but whatever it was, was muffled by all the cookies in her mouth. After swallowing, she apologized before saying, "That's my Uncle Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now, I'm all like; hwaaah!" Kristofer couldn't help but chuckle as she struck a ninja pose.

"So I've noticed," the man replied with a smile. "And what is an adorable girl, such as yourself, doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well, I want to be a Huntress," Ruby replied.

"You want to slay monsters?"

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, words began spilling from her mouth like water from a busted dam. "Yeah. I only have two more years left at Signal, and then I'm going to apply to Beacon. You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress because I wanna help people. Our parents taught us to help others, so I thought, 'Well, I might as well make a career out of it.' I mean the police are alright, but Huntsman and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and just tchaaa! Ya know?!"

"Pardon me for interrupting," Kristofer began. "But, what exactly are Huntsman and Huntresses?

"You're joking, right?!" Ruby demanded.

"I wish I was."

Ruby just sat there staring at him, absolutely dumbfounded.

After a pause, the man said, "That reminds me." He walked over to where Kristofer was sitting. "When we went to look you up, we couldn't find anyone on the planet who matches your description. As far as we know, you don't exist. Do you have an explanation for that?"

"I do…" Kristofer began. "But I don't think you'll believe me. Frankly, _I_ find it difficult to believe."

"Try me," came the smiling reply.

Kristofer took a deep breath before starting. "My name is Kristofer Schade, and I know this sounds crazy, but I'm not from this world. I'm from a planet called Earth. I was relaxing at the beach one day, and then woke up in a completely different body (with a tail no less!) in an abandoned warehouse. The only possessions I have from my world are my clothes, weapons, and memories." After a long, awkward silence, he muttered, "I told you I'd sound crazy."

"No," the man said, raising a hand. "It's alright, I believe you."

"Really?"

He nodded his head. "When you've been around as long as I have, you're bound to see many peculiar occurrences. Though, this is a first, I have seen other things that are even stranger." He took on a more sympathetic tone. "It must be difficult, being in a place you know nothing about with no guarantee that you'll see your loved ones again."

"It's alright," Kristofer said. "All of those close to me died many, many years ago. And, given enough time, I'll adapt.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said quietly.

Back to business, the man then asked, "Well then, Kristofer, where did _you _learn how to fight?"

"That's kind of a long story. Back on Earth, every nation is constantly at war, constantly coming up with new programs and new technologies to try and one up their adversaries. My nation started one such program. They began training select individuals at an early age, so that by the time they reached the age at which they can join the military, they'll have already been fully trained. I was one of those individuals. In fact, I outpaced my fellow trainees. I graduated a year early, and was about to be deployed to take out a terrorist cell when I woke up here."

"I see." Pacing back to where Ruby was sitting, he said, "Back to your original question. Huntsman and Huntresses are the guardians of this world. Their combat skills are unparalleled. Their entire purpose is to destroy all the Grimm, (Grimm are evil, powerful versions of common animals who only wish to wipe all of us off the face of the planet), and anything or anyone else who threatens to disrupt the peace of this world."

"How does one become a Hunstman?"

"Officially? Only by graduating from a school specifically designed for that purpose, such as Beacon." As Kristofer sunk into deep thought about how he might achieve such a thing, the man turned back to Ruby. "Do you know who I am?" he asked.

"Of course," Ruby replied with a smile. "You're Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster at Beacon." This caught Kristofer's attention.

"That's right." He looked at both Kristofer and Ruby. "So you want to come to my school?" When they both gave an affirmative, he said, "Well, okay then."

"Hold on!" the Huntress interrupted. "Professor Ozpin, we only have _one_ ope..."

Professor Ozpin quieted her with his hand. "Don't worry, I'll take care of that."

**As promised, a _LOT_ longer. To be honest, this is by far the longest chapter I've written…ever, in anything. It could've been longer (I was toying with the idea of Ruby inviting Kristofer to stay with her and Yang for the night since he has nowhere else to go, but I figured that I've written enough.) Also, I know it seems (at this point) like I'm just retelling Volume 1 with an extra character (and I mostly am, for now), but I promise that's not going to be it. There will (eventually) be more to it than that. But, anyways, feel free to leave a comment/pm me about how I did, what I can improve on, or just to flame at me. (Personally, I'd rather not have that last one, but it's all up to you.)**


	3. Chapter 2: The Shining Beacon

The following day, Kristofer woke up to find that he'd been sleeping on a couch. _That was one weird dream,_ he thought. As he got up to stretch, he was shocked to see the tail from his dream still attached to him. At that same moment, Ruby walked into the room. _I guess it wasn't a dream after all._

"I see you're awake," Ruby said.

"Yeah," Kristofer groaned groggily. "Is the bathroom open?"

"Be my guest."

After showering and brushing his teeth, Kristofer exited the bathroom to find an older girl standing there. The girl (who happened to be Ruby's older sister, Yang) wore a yellow shirt and black short shorts which were covered by a brown skirt and a tight brown vest which accentuated some of her more…feminine features. She also wore black gloves, yellow wristlets, and an orange scarf. Her unkempt blonde hair stretched down the entirety of her back.

"Ruby and I are all packed," she said. "We're just waiting on you."

"I'm all done," Kristofer replied. "To be honest, I don't really have anything _to_ pack."

"I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out."

When the trio arrived at the airship station, they found the airship had already landed and was loading up passengers. As Kristofer boarded the ship, he couldn't help but gawk in wonder, unable to comprehend how this colossal construction could possibly fly.

"What?" Yang asked, noticing Kristofer's bewilderment. "Don't they have airships where you come from?"

"Yes, but not like this. We have yet to develop anti-gravity on Earth."

"It's simple," Ruby said. "Just use Dust."

"How can miniscule grains of rock cause something to float?" Kristofer asked with a hint of doubt in his voice.

"No, no, no," Yang laughed. She then popped open one of her wristlets, revealing a red crystal, much like the one the thug from the day before had thrown at Kristofer and Ruby. "This is Dust," she explained. "There are numerous different kinds, each providing a different kind of power. The airships use a sort of anti-grav dust."

"Interesting," Kristofer mused, stroking his chin. He was broken out of his thought process when he saw a mug shot of the bowler hat guy on the holoscreen.

"The robbery," the reporter said. "Was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa."

The projection then shifted to show a gray haired woman. To her right was an image of what appeared to be an organized protest. "Thank you Cyril," the female reporter said. "In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark…"

"What's a Faunus?" Kristofer wondered aloud.

"You are," Ruby replied. "Faunus are just like humans, except they have one or more animalistic attributes, such as your tail."

"Oh…"

The report on the holoscreen was cut short as the image was replaced by the Huntress from the previous night. "Hello, and welcome to Beacon," the recording said. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honour of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsman and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and he training to protect our world." Her image then vanished, revealing a stunning view of the city (which Kristofer had learned was named Vale).

Looking out the window, Ruby exclaimed, "Look, you can see Signal from up here!" Then, in a quieter voice, "I guess home isn't too far after all."

Yang threw her arm around her sister's shoulders. "Beacon's our home now."

To the girls' right, a blonde haired kid in brown with white shoulder pads let out a groan. He then proceeded to quickly make his way over to the nearest trash can, trying to hold in his vomit.

"I guess the view isn't for everyone," Yang said.

Kristofer walked up to the two girls. "Hey, I'm gonna go make sure he's alright."

"Why?" Ruby asked.

Smiling, Kristofer replied, "Because I can relate. I'm highly prone to seasickness."

"Blegh," Yang said. "Go ahead. We won't stop you."

Walking over to the boy, who had just finished violently vomiting into the trash can, Kristofer put his hand on the boy's back. "You doing alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," the boy groaned. "I just…urp…get motion sick."

"I hear you. My name's Kristofer Schade by the way."

"Jaune Arc," the boy replied.

"Well Jaune," Kristofer said, shaking his hand. "Here's to an excellent several years at Beacon."

As the door of the airship opened, all the students flooded out onto the campus. As they slowly waded through the crowd, Juane and Kristofer discussed things such as what they might learn, if one or the other knew any girls they should be interested in, typical guy stuff. As they walked along, they saw an explosion in the distance. Running towards it, the pair found Rub watching a girl in a white dress angrily walk away. She then collapsed to her knees, looking absolutely downtrodden.

"You wanted to know a girl to be friends with right?" Kristofer whispered to Jaune. "She's not a bad start."

Nodding, Jaune walked over to Ruby, offering his hand. "Hey," he said. "I'm Jaune."

"Ruby," she replied, shyly accepting his assistance to stand. Snorting, she then asked, "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

Smiling in satisfaction over the new friendship he created, Kristofer decided to try to figure out where in the world he was supposed to go. Wandering around, he spotted two male Faunus (at least, he assumed that the raccoon tails made them Faunus) talking together. Walking up to them, he asked, "Excuse me?"

The two turned around. In surprise, Kristofer realized that they must've been twins. Aside from their outfits, they looked identical. They both shared the same dark skin tone, shoulder length chestnut hair, and dark green eyes. The one on the left wore a yellow undershirt and olive vest with a pair of long tan pants. On his wrists, he wore a pair of dark green and yellow bracers. The one on the right wore a mahogany spandex outfit with black highlights. Near the neck, it opened up to reveal a black undershirt. He also wore a pair of bracers, these ones being red and black.

"Can we help you, mate?" the one on the right asked in what would be an Australian accent on Earth.

"Yeah, uh, where are the first years supposed to go?"

"It should all be on your Scroll," the other answered, pulling out a miniature version of one of the tablets that Goodwitch had the previous night.

Rubbing his hand behind his head awkwardly, Kristofer said, "I, uh, never got one."

"Ah," the one on the left replied. His brother then offered, "Would you like us to show you then? We have to go there anyways."

"Yes, please," Kristofer replied. "I'm Kristofer, in case you're wondering."

"Well, Kristofer," the one on the right said, "I'm Artie, and that's my brother, Mac."

"So," Mac asked. "Where'd you learn to fight? We both came from Signal."

"Ummm…" Kristofer was unsure of how to answer the question. He couldn't lie to them, because Signal was the only other school he knew of, and they both would know he hadn't attended.

"You did attend a combat school, right?" Artie asked with a sideways glance.

"Umm…yeah…about that…"

"I'll be buggered!" Artie exclaimed. "The headmaster let you in on talent alone?"

"Sorta, yeah."

"Good onya, mate," Mac said, clapping Kristofer on the shoulder. "You must be pretty spiffy in a fight. What kind of weapons are ya packing?"

Pulling his cudgels out, Kristofer said, "Just these. They aren't much, but they get the job done."

"Do they at least shoot?" Artie asked.

"Nope. They're only good for smashing stuff."

"So," Mac asked. "What do you do if something's shooting at you?"

"Well," Kristofer began. "I have this…ability. I'm able to sense where and when something's going to hit before it's even begun moving."

"Must be your semblance then," Mac explained.

"Semblance?" This time it was Kristofer's turn to be confused.

"Yeah," Artie said. "Everyone has their own unique semblance. But, everyone knows that."

"Ummm…"

Artie and his brother exchanged a glance. "Is there something you're not telling us mate?"

"You won't think I'm crazy will you?" Kristofer asked hesitantly.

Mac waved his hand. "Of course not. Beacon would never allow crazies to come here to learn."

With a sigh, Kristofer retold the events of the previous day. The two brother listened to every word intently. When he finished, Mac gave out a low whistle. "Mate, that's some heavy stuff. But, if you ever need help learning about this world, we'll be glad to help. Right Artie?"

"Too right!"

"Thanks," Kristofer said with a smile. As Kristofer followed his newfound friends into the auditorium, he was bowled over by a blonde-haired girl.

"I'm so, so sorry!" she exclaimed, helping him up. "You're not hurt or anything? I really hate to be the person to send someone to the nurse on their first day of school. Are you sure you're okay? You are? Great!" Before Kristofer could even get in a word, the girl dashed off.

He was then approached by a girl with fox ears. "I'm sorry about that, sir," she said timidly, twiddling her thumbs with her head down. She wore a simple sky blue dress with white fringes. Her black hair reached down to the small of her back. "My friend can get a little overexcited."

"It's alright," Kristofer said. But, before he could say anything else, a hush covered the audience as Professor Ozpin stepped up to the podium.

"I'll…keep this brief," he said, pushing his glasses higher up his nose. "You have travelled here today in search of knowledge; to hone your craft, and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

As he walked off, using his cane for support, Professor Goodwitch walked up to the mic. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight," she said. "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

"Is the Headmaster always like that," Artie asked, looking at Kristofer.

"He wasn't like that when I met him," Kristofer replied. "Something must be troubling him…"

**With that, I end chapter 2, which wasn't nearly as long. As you can see, I'm starting to deviate from the original RWBY story. I also managed to sneak in a few extra characters whom you'll get to learn a little more about in the near future. As before, please comment/pm/whatever to let me know what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong, etc.**


	4. Chapter 3: The First Steps

_Kristofer refused to look back as he and his best friend, Justin, ran through the dark hallways. The labyrinth seemed to stretch forever. "You'll never escape me," a voice said as they ran. Suddenly, Justin tripped. "Kristofer!" he shouted. Turning back to help, Kristofer found shadowy tentacles dragging his comrade away. Another set of tentacles grabbed Kristofer, none-too-gently dragging him after Justin. "Kristofer!" Justin shouted again. "Kristofer…"_

"Kristofer…"

"Kristofer, wake up!"

Kristofer jolted awake. It was morning. All around him, students were packing up their sleeping bags and heading for the dining hall. Looking up, he found Artie and Mac looking at him with concerned looks.

"You feeling okay, mate?" Artie asked, helping him to his feet.

"Yeah," Kristofer groaned. "It was just a bad dream."

"Well, I hope you got enough rest," Mac said. "We're going through initiation today, remember?"

"I hope it's not a written test," Kristofer replied whilst rolling up his sleeping bag.

Mac chuckled, "I doubt that. There's a rumor going around that this initiation will decide what teams we're on."

"Teams?" Kristofer asked.

"Yeah," Artie said. "Huntsman and Huntresses in training are usually placed into teams of four."

"Ah."

"Anyways," Mac said. "I suggest that you get a move on while there's still some breakfast left. Let's go Artie."

"I'll catch up with you," Kristofer called as the brothers hurried out of the hall.

**_Later…_**

After gearing up, the trainees gathered at the top of Beacon Cliff. The cliff overlooked a vast forest that extended as far as the eye could see. Each student was instructed to stand on odd looking square plates on the ground. Kristofer took his place with Artie on his left and Ruby on his right.

Both Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch were waiting for them. "For years," Professor Ozpin began. "You have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Professor Goodwitch stepped forward. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard the rumors about teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates, today."

"These teammates," Professor Ozpin continued. "Will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So, it is in your interest to be partnered with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.'

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you _will_ die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But, our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return at the top of the cliff. We will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Jaune nervously raised his hand. "Yeah, uh sir?"

"Good," Professor Ozpin said, completely ignoring Jaune. "Now, take your positions."

"Um, sir," Jaune persisted. "I've got, umm, I've got a question."

Looking to his left, Kristofer watched as a girl in white, holding a rapier, was launched by the plate she was standing on, off the cliff and over the forest.

"So, this landing strategy thing," Jaune continued. "Uh, what is it? You're just, like, dropping us off, or something?"

"No," Professor Ozpin replied. "You _will_ be falling."

"Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

Before he could hear the professor's reply, Kristofer found himself flying over the forest. Looking around, he spotted the other students using multiple techniques to soften their landing. Yang, whose wristlets had turned into gauntlets that emitted powerful fireballs, was using their recoil to not only slow her descent, but prolong her flight. Ruby used her weapon to slow her descent in much the same way, before catching a branch with the blade, swinging around it to lose momentum.

Snapping back to the task at hand, Kristofer began to plan how he was going to land. He had learned how to perform an aerial insertion without a parachute, but had never been able to put it into practice. As he scanned the trees below him, he found the perfect one. Aiming for it, he stretched out his arms, grabbing a branch, swinging around and then letting go at the apex. He then aimed for another branch, this time swinging around it like Ruby had (although he had less momentum to lose) before landing on the ground in a shoulder roll.

_Well, that was pretty awesome,_ he said to himself. Once he brushed himself off, he decided to get to the task at hand: finding a partner.

Wandering through the wilderness, he had no idea where to even start. Now, Kristofer didn't believe in miracles, but he had no idea how to describe what happened next. As he contemplated how he might find someone, hopefully someone he already knew, he locked eyes with both Artie and Mac, who had just walked into the clearing.

"I'll be stuffed!" Artie exclaimed, looking back and forth between Kristofer and Mac. "Is this real?"

"I'll say it is!" Mac shouted back.

"So, what now?" Kristofer asked.

"Well, let's not play sillybuggers," Artie said, gesturing for them to follow. "We have relics to find."

As they walked along, Kristofer asked, "So, do you think it's allowed for us to be in a group of three?"

"I don't see why not," Mac replied. "The rules stated that we partner up with the first person we see. Well," he shrugged. "We saw each other at the same time."

"I guess you're right."

Suddenly, they heard a scream. "This way!" Kristofer shouted, running off with the twins in tow. They found the timid girl from the previous day in a tree. Several werewolf looking creatures circled the tree, barking and howling up at her. A weapon consisting of two swords attached at the hilt (which Kristofer assumed was the girl's weapon) lay on the ground several feet from the tree.

"Don't worry," Kristofer shouted, pulling out his cudgels. "We'll take care of 'em."

The twins nodded in affirmative, raising their arms. Both of their bracers transformed, each revealing a unique weapon. Artie's weapons consisted of a set of six blades arranged in a circular formation around a central disc connected by a rod to each bracer. Mac's bracers each emitted a two foot long white blade of energy that tapered to a point at the end.

"Hey," Kristofer shouted, trying to get the werewolves' attention. "Over here!" Turning to Artie, he whispered, "I want you to get the girl's weapon to her." Smiling, Artie nodded.

The werewolves turned around to see what the commotion was. Upon spotting the trio, they growled, raising their claws aggressively. "Mac," Kristofer said. "You ready to take out some…"

"Beowolves," Mac said with a grin.

"Ready to take out some Beowolves?"

"Of course," he replied, assuming a combat stance.

With that, the pair charged. Kristofer slid under the swipe of the front-most Beowolves while Mac flipped over the top of them, slicing them with his blades. As Kristofer came out of his slide, he brought his cudgels up, cracking two of them underneath the jaw. Once Mac landed, he spun around in a whirlwind, beheading the remaining Beowolves.

"That was easy," Kristofer said, starting to put his cudgels away. Mac stopped him however.

"There may be more," he explained. "Beowolves rarely hunt in a pack as small as that one." As soon as he said that, at least a dozen more Beowolves leapt from the bushes, snarling in fury.

"Hey, sheila," Artie called to the girl in the tree. "Catch!" He then proceeded to toss her her weapon. As she caught it, Artie saw a fire in her eyes that definitely wasn't there before. Before he had much time to think about it, she flipped a switch, causing her weapon to transform into a bow. Pulling three arrows out of the quiver on her back (which began to glow with a bright yellow light as she nocked them), she front flipped out of the tree, loosing the arrows at her apex. The arrows homed in on their targets like Tomahawk missiles, impacting three of the Beowolves right between the eyes. As soon as she hit the ground, she let another three arrows fly, hitting another trio in the same exact spot.

"Jeez," Artie exclaimed. "Leave some for me!" At this point, the remaining Beowolves had Kristofer and Mac surrounded. Artie rushed forward, crossing his arms. He then quickly spread them wide, launching the bladed discs. The discs curved around Kristofer and Mac, slicing through each of the Beowolves and then returning to Artie who reattached them to his bracers.

"Are there any more?" Kristofer asked, not wanting to make the same mistake twice.

"I don't think so," Mac replied, retracting his energy blades.

Turning back to the girl, Artie asked, "I take it that you're alright?"

When the girl nodded, Kristofer asked, "What's your name?"

"Ila," she shyly replied.

"So, Ila, what happened exactly?"

"Well," she began, holding her right arm as if she'd done something wrong. "My partner, Rachael, the girl who knocked you over, and I were walking through the forest when that pack of Beowolves jumped us. In the commotion, Rachael and I got separated. As I ran, I accidentally dropped my weapon and was chased up that tree."

Kristofer and the twins looked at each other. When Artie shrugged, Kristofer went on, "Do you know which way Rachael went?"

Ila bowed her head.

"Well," Artie said. "Don't worry, we'll help you find her."

"You will?" Ila asked, looking up.

"Of course," Kristofer nodded. "It's the right thing to do, after all."

**So, here's the next chapter. I personally liked writing that fight scene as it introduces most of the new characters' weapons, as well as their fighting styles. If I ever find the time, I might consider making a visual representation of these characters so that you can know what they (and their weapons) look like. But, anyways, feel free to comment, or leave me a pm on your thoughts about this story so far.**


	5. Chapter 4: The Emerald Forest

Rachael laughed with glee as she ran, Beowolves in hot pursuit. She was then surrounded by a light blue glow and then, with a flash, vanished into thin air, leaving the Beowolves looking around in confusion. Then, reappearing behind them, Rachael pulled out a double-barreled shotgun, aiming it at the nearest Beowolf.

"Behind you," she said as she pulled the trigger, completely obliterating the creature. Snarling in rage, the other Beowolves charged at her, claws ready and teeth bared. As the nearest one swiped at her, she once again vanished with a blue flash. She reappeared behind another Beowolf who quickly met the same fate as the first. As she pumped her shotgun, the remaining four Beowolves charged again. This time, she split the shotgun in two. Aiming at two of the Beowolves, she fired, taking them out. Then, the two halves of the shotgun transformed into swords which she used to slice the heads off of the remaining attackers.

Transforming the swords back into a double barreled shotgun, she reattached her weapon to her back. "Too easy," she muttered. Louder, she asked, "Don't you agree Ila?"

Looking around, she realized that there was no one there. "Ila?!" she called. "Ila!"

_Alright, Rachael, stay rational. She probably ran a different direction. She's a big girl, she's probably fine. Oh, but what if she isn't? I have to find her!_ Distressed, Rachael began pacing as she tried to figure out what to do. _Maybe, if I go back the way I came, I'll find her. Yes! That's it! But…_ Rachael looked around in confusion. _Which way did I come from?_

Meanwhile, Artie, Mac, Kristofer, and Ila were all on a similar mission, trying to find Rachael. Much like Rachael, they set off in a random direction in hopes of bumping into her. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all they had to work with.

Arty, trying to break the silence that had settled over them, asked, "So, Ila, how did you and Rachael meet?"

"Well," Ila began. "It was quite a long time ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. I must have only been about five at the time. I was one of only a handful of Faunus at my school, and, at that time especially, no human wanted to be friends with a Faunus. One day, at recess, I accidentally tripped and fell into this one boy. In retaliation, he and his friends started beating me up, the whole while I was screaming that I didn't mean to."

"That must have been awful," Kristofer murmured.

"All of us have been discriminated against at some point," Artie said softly. "It comes with being a Faunus."

"Doesn't make it right," Kristofer replied.

"Well," Mac asked, turning back to Ila. "What happened next?"

"When they were finally called away, I lay there, broken, defeated. I had simply lost the will to continue. But then, as I laid there, I heard a voice asking if I was alright. Looking up, I saw a girl, a human girl, watching me. I tried to get up, but found I couldn't. So, she helped me to the nurse. She saved my life that day, and we have been best friends ever since."

"At least things turned out alright," Kristofer said with a smile, one which Ila returned.

"Sorry to spoil the mood," Mac said, as he stopped walking. "But take a look at this."

In front of the group lay what appeared to be some kind of ruins. Large pillars in varying states of decay surrounded a circular central platform that had been mostly covered in grass and weeds. In front of each pillar was a pedestal at waist height, and atop each pedestal were what appeared to be chess pieces.

"Think these are the relics?" Artie asked.

"Judging by the fact that there seem to be four of each, I assume so," Mac replied, grabbing four black rooks, tossing them to the other three.

Looking at his thoughtfully, Kristofer walked over to Ila. "Here," he said, handing it to her.

"B-but…"

"Give it to Rachael." He looked back at Arty and Mac. "To be honest, I don't think the twins and I were necessarily supposed to be all in one group."

Before she could respond, two girls landed among the group. One, Kristofer immediately recognized as Yang. The other wore a white blouse and a black vest. Below the waist, she wore clinging white short shorts, and dark purple stockings. On her right arm, she had a ribbon wrapped around it that reached to a blade on her back. But, for some reason he couldn't figure out, Kristofer's eyes were drawn to the large black bow that she wore atop her waist-length black hair. That, and her sharp, auburn eyes.

"Hey, Kristofer!" Yang exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," he began, but Artie cut him off.

"Kristofer, could you introduce me…err…_us_ to your friends?"

"Sure," Kristofer replied. "Artie, Mac, Ila, this is Yang and…" he paused, as he had never actually met the other girl before.

"Blake," she finished for him with a smile.

As they talked, suddenly a high pitched scream pierced the air.

"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang exclaimed, turning to Blake. "Shouldn't we do something?"

Blake however was looking up at the sky. "Uh, Yang?" she said.

"Heads up!" a voice yelled.

Rachael was really starting to worry at this point. Naturally being impatient, she didn't realize that she'd only been searching for merely ten minutes. To her, it felt like she'd been searching for hours. "Ila?!" she called desperately. Where was she?

Suddenly, Rachael had an idea. Quickly, she began to climb the nearest tree. While she may have not been a Faunus, she certainly was as nimble as one. However, as she jumped towards a black branch, she was startled as it suddenly moved out of reach on its own, causing her to plummet back towards the ground. Flailing wildly, she managed to grab onto a branch to slow her descent.

As Rachael hit the ground, she looked up just in time to teleport out of the way of a massive creature as it landed with a crash right where she had been standing. This creature was like something out of someone's nightmares. At first glance, it appeared to be a fifteen foot tall, black praying mantis with two additional sets of forelegs, as well as another set extruding from its back. Speaking of its back, the entire spiked carapace was made of the white bone structure with red runes that was characteristic with each and every Grimm.

Turning in Rachael's direction, the Khoisan let out a bloodcurdling shriek, rearing up on its hind legs threateningly. It then proceeded to charge in her direction, nimbly weaving through the trees, despite its enormous size.

Realizing this was way out of her league, Rachael turned tail and ran. However, the Khoisan was marginally faster than her, and she had to resort to teleporting to avoid the creature's swipes. _Wherever she is, _Rachael thought grimly. _I hope Ila is better off than me._

* * *

**I'm finally finished with another chapter. It's definitely been awhile. To be honest, this chapter has just been sitting here. It was partly because I kept putting off modifying Arty and Mac's dialogue. With those two, I write the basics of what they're supposed to say, then I go and change their lines to match their Australian-influenced slang (despite the lack of an Australia on Remnant). Funny thing is, there wasn't anything to change in this chapter. So…whoops… Regardless, it's out now and I hope you enjoy it! ****J**

**If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, feel free to leave a review or drop me a PM. Even if I lag behind on delivering content, I'm fairly consistent at checking for responses.**


	6. Chapter 5: Player and Pieces

**_Five minutes earlier…_**

_Juane Arc stared into a cave, gulping as darkness stared back. Turning to his partner, a red haired, armor-clad girl name Pyrrha, he asked, "Do you think this is it?"_

_After Juane made a torch and the pair entered the cave, Pyrrha replied, "I'm not quite sure this is it."_

_Sighing in exasperation, Juane said, "Pyrrha, I made the torch. Could you humor me for maybe two more feet?" Once he said this, he tripped over a rock, dropping the torch into a puddle, plunging the two into darkness as it was extinguished. "Ow," Juane groaned, getting up off the ground._

_"Juane," Pyrrha asked. "Do you…feel that?"_

_"Soul crushing regret?"_

_"No. It feels…warm."_

_With no choice but to keep moving forward, the pair were momentarily surprised when a light suddenly appeared ahead of them. The source appeared to be a gold colored object suspended above the ground._

_"That's the relic!" Juane exclaimed, running towards it. As he went to grab it, the "relic" moved out of reach. "Huh?" Juane lunged again, and again it moved out of reach. "Bad relic!" He lunged again, and this time succeeded in grabbing ahold of it. "Gotcha!"_

_"Juane…" Pyrrha began, worry lacing her voice. But before she could say anything, the relic carried Juane farther back, revealing that he was actually holding onto the stinger of a massive scorpion-like Grimm. Juane's earsplitting scream could be heard throughout the entire forest._

_As Pyrrha ran out of the cave, the Deathstalker exploded through the cave entrance after her._

_"Pyrrha!" Juane yelled. "Pyrrha! This is not the relic! It's not! Do something!"_

_"Juane, whatever you do, don't let…" before she could finish her sentence, the Deathstalker pulled its tail back and launched Juane far above the forest. "…go."_

_Turning back to the monster, Pyrrha pulled out her sword and shield. Then, looking at her weapons, she chided herself for thinking they'd be of any use against this thing. Looking up at her opponent, she gulped and then started running._

**_Meanwhile…_**

_High above the Emerald Forest, Ruby and Weiss, a white-haired girl wearing a light blue, nearly white, dress, clung to the back of an enormous raven-like creature called a Nevermore. The Grimm was clearly upset, as it struggled to shake off its unwelcome passengers. Speaking of said passengers, the pair were arguing intensely._

_"Ruby! I told you this was a terrible idea!" Weiss shouted above the wind rushing past them._

_"We're fine," Ruby replied. "Stop worrying!"_

_"Oh, I am SO far beyond worrying!"_

_Ruby hesitated. "In a good way?!"_

_"In a bad way! In a VERY bad way!"_

_"Well, why don't we just jump?"_

_"What ARE you?! Insane?!" Looking up, she saw that Ruby had already jumped. "WHY YOU INSUFFERABLE LITTLE RED…"_

**_Now…_**

"Heads up!" Ruby yelled to everyone's horror as she fell towards the ground. Then, as if in slow motion, someone or something hit her mid-fall, and the two flew into a tree. "What was that?" Ruby wondered, shaking her head to clear it. Looking up, she was shocked to find Juane hanging from a branch above her. "Juane?"

"Ruby?" he exclaimed, similarly surprised.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked.

"I, uh…" Yang started, but was cut off by an explosion as a large bear burst into the clearing with an orange haired girl with a grenade launcher riding it like she was at a rodeo. She fired once more, and it fell over, presumably dead. Looking over the corpse, she said, "Aww, it's broken."

A black haired boy stepped out from behind the bear, looking like he was ready to throw up. "Nora, let's never do that again." But, his words fell on deaf ears, as Nora had vanished. Looking up, he found her at one of the pedestals, inspecting a golden rook.

"Oooh!" she exclaimed. Snatching it up, she exclaimed, "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle."

"Nora!" the boy called angrily, stopping her in her tracks.

"Coming Ren!" she replied with a salute.

"Did they just ride here on an Ursa?" Artie asked.

Suddenly, Pyrrha burst out of the forest, the Deathstalker on her heels. "Pyrrha!" Juane shouted as Ruby gasped in shock.

Then, as she jumped down, Yang exclaimed, "Ruby?!"

"Yang!" Ruby responded, as the two went to hug each other.

However, they were interrupted as Nora burst up between them, yelling, "Nora!"

"Did she just run all the way here while being chased by a Deathstalker?" Mac asked.

Finally having enough, Yang shouted, "Will everyone just chill out for ten seconds before something crazy happens again?!" She then sighed as Ruby tapped her on the shoulder.

"Umm, Yang?" she asked, pointing up at Weiss, who was still holding on to the Nevermore.

"How could you leave me?!" she shouted.

"I said 'jump'," Ruby muttered.

"She's gonna fall."

"She'll be fine."

"She's falling."

Juane, finally having managed to untangle himself from the branch, looked up to find Weiss falling through the air. Smiling at the opportunity, he leapt from the branch. As she fell into his arms, he smoothly asked, "Just dropping by?" Then, looking down, he realized he had no way to get down. "Oh god!" The two then fell, Juane providing his body as a cushion for Weiss as she landed.

"My hero," she said sarcastically.

"My back," Juane groaned.

"Well, that was…eventful…" Kristofer said, his mind blown by everything that had just happened. He still wasn't sure what exactly HAD happened.

The Deathstalker roared, and suddenly Pyrrha landed beside the group.

"Great," Yang said. "Now we can all die together."

"Not if I can help it," Ruby said, pulling out her weapon. She then launched herself towards the Deathstalker, landing a blow on one of its claws. However, it was barely phased. "D-don't worry," she stuttered at her lack of results. "Everything's totally fine." Firing at the Grimm, she transformed her scythe back into its compact mode before sprinting away. However, she had forgotten about the Nevermore. With a shriek, the monstrous bird launched a barrage of razor sharp feathers at the fleeing girl. One of them snagged her cape, knocking her to the ground.

Ruby looked up in horror to see the Deathstalker lift its stinger, preparing to strike. As the stinger began its descent, something dashed past Ruby, and the stinger was suddenly encased in a block of ice.

As Ruby opened her eyes, she found Weiss lecturing her.

"You are _so_ childish."

"Weiss?" Ruby asked.

But, Weiss wasn't done. "And dimwitted, and hyperactive. And don't get me started about your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a bit…difficult. But, if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if _you_ will stop trying to show off, I'll try to be…nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off," Ruby explained as Weiss helped her up. "I just want you to know that I can do this."

"You're fine."

Artie and Mac looked at each other.

"Am I missing something?" Artie asked.

Mac shrugged.

Once everyone regrouped, Juane pointed to the Nevermore. "Guys, that thing's circling back. What are we gonna do?"

"Well," Kristofer said. "The objective _is_ right here."

The others nodded in agreement as Ruby said, "I say we take the relics and run. There's no need to fight these things."

"Run and live," Juane said. "That's an idea I can get behind."

"What about Rachael?" Ila spoke up.

"We'll fi…" Artie began but was cut off as Rachael came bursting out of the woods, the Khoisan right behind her.

"Oh god, run!" Juane exclaimed, signaling a stampede of everyone there.

The group was chased to another set of ruins, one which was overlooked by the cliff on which they started. Between them and the cliff was a large chasm, over which a bridge connected their side to a structure in the middle. Another identical bridge then spanned from the structure to the other side. Everyone ducked behind pillars as the Nevermore perched atop the structure in the middle of the chasm, shrieking a challenge.

"Well, that's just great," Yang muttered.

Suddenly, the Khoisan burst out of the forest behind them, quickly followed by the Deathstalker, which had broken free from the ice.

"We have to keep moving!" Kristofer shouted.

"Nora," Ren said. "Distract it!"

Running out towards the Nevermore, whilst avoiding a volley of feathers, Nora pulled out her grenade launcher, using it like a Flak cannon against the massive bird. Enraged, the Nevermore shrieked again, taking flight. However, Nora wasn't looking behind her, and didn't realize that the Deathstalker was preparing to strike until it was too late. Luckily, Weiss got to her in time, getting her out of the way. As the group got to the bridge, Pyrrha, Kristofer, Artie, and Mac turned back to face the two insectoids.

"Go," Pyrrha commanded. "We'll cover you!" She then equipped her sword and shield, transforming the blade into a rifle, not wasting any time in firing. Arty and Mac quickly followed suit, transforming their guantlets, each launching glaives and laser pulses respectively. Kristofer however, charged the creatures, whipping his weapons out.

As the rest of the group ran across the bridge, the Nevermore smashed through it, scattering each of the students. Ren, Ila, Rachael and Blake landed on the insectoids' side, while Juane, Ruby, Yang, Weiss, and Nora landed on the far side.

Picking himself off the ground, Juane looked across the chasm. "We have to get over there, they need our help."

"Then let's do this," Nora said.

"Yeah, but, I don't think I can make that jump."

Grinning, Nora knocked Juane to the ground with her weapon. Then, she transformed it into a large hammer, from the back end of which came an explosion. The explosion propelled the hammer downward towards the edge of what remained of the bridge, causing it to catapult Juane across to the other side. Flipping her weapon around so that it faced where Juane was headed, Nora stood on the head of the hammer, and pulled the trigger, launching herself directly at the Deathstalker. As she approached it, she swung the hammer down on its head. She then fired again, propelling her backwards away from it, bumping an unfortunate Blake off the bridge.

After a moment of being stunned, Blake pulled out what appeared to be a pistol with a blade pointing backwards. She launched the gun, which was actually attached to a ribbon around her arm. She hooked it onto a column, then swung herself onto the bridge with Ruby and the others.

"Kristofer," Pyrrha shouted. "There's no room to fight both of them here!"

"Agreed!" he replied. "Rachael, Artie, Mac, Ila, this way!" Jumping up onto the back of the Khoisan, he whacked it upside the head. Then, catapulting off the head, he ran away from the bridge, friends and Khoisan in hot pursuit. Once he reached what he assumed was a good enough distance, he turned, deflecting a blow from one of the creature's forelegs and dove underneath it, coming out the other side.

"Ila," he commanded pointing to a nearby column. "Get on top of that pillar!"

Without hesitation, she followed his command, and swiftly began raining arrows down.

Jumping back on top, Kristofer managed to smash a club into one of the Khoisan's joints, causing it to scream in agony, throwing him off of its back. As he landed, he cushioned the impact by crouching his legs. Turning back around, he assessed the situation. From her position, Ila continuously fired arrows at the thing. Down on the ground, Artie was blocking the creature's attacks with his glaives while Mac and Rachael ran around, slicing at its legs.

"Ila!" Kristofer called. "Shoot out its eyes!"

Ila fired two glowing arrows, the pair dodging the legs on the Grimm's back, eventually hitting both of the creatures' eyes, causing it to rear back in rage and pain.

"Artie, get the legs on its back, aim for the joints!"

"You've got it mate!" Crossing his arms, Artie then launched his glaives, the pair looping around like boomerangs. Both glaives hit home, slicing the legs off.

"Rachael, Mac, dissection time!"

Quickly, the pair sliced off each of the creature's legs at the joints. Without any legs to support it, the Khoisan crashed to the ground.

"Rachael, I need a teleport!"

Rachael grabbed on to Kristofer, then teleported above the creature, dropping him and teleporting back to the ground. Kristofer raised the cudgels above his head, then brought them down into the base of the creature's neck, hitting the spinal cord, and killing it.

Looking up, the group watched as Ruby ran up the cliff, scythe against the Nevermore's neck. As she reached the top, she let out one final burst with the rifle end, decapitating the giant bird. The Deathstalker, was, Kristofer presumed, already taken care of.

"Well," Artie said, stepping forward. "That was certainly a beaut."

"Agreed," Mac said.

**_That night…_**

Every student had indeed made it back to the cliff, more or less alive. After a rather talkative dinner, all of the students at the school, including those who had already been there, were called to meet in the auditorium for the yearly team naming ceremony.

Kristofer waited anxiously with the twins as names were called off. So far, there had been two teams formed. The first one, was team CRDL (Cardinal), consisting of Cardin Winchester as the leader, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. Kristofer didn't recognize a single one of them, but he did recognize the next group. The next team was team JNPR (Juniper), consisting of Juane Arc who was the leader, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren.

As team JNPR stepped off, Professor Ozpin called out for Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. They were made into team RWBY (Ruby), led by Ruby. It was at this point that Kristofer started to worry. Did the fact that he didn't bring back a chess piece mean that he failed initiation?

His worries were laid to rest when Professor Ozpin called, "Kristofer Schade, Artie Noctis, Mac Noctis, Rachael Umbra, and Ila Seraphim please step forward." Once they all assembled, he said, "We don't normally do this, but under these circumstances we can make an exception. All five of you will become members of team SAMRI (Samurai), led by Kristofer Schade."

"Good onya mate!" Artie exclaimed, punching a dumbfounded Kristofer in the shoulder.

Watching the teams, Ozpin muttered with amusement, "This is certainly shaping up to be a very interesting year."

**_Meanwhile, in a rundown warehouse in Vale…_**

Torchwick slammed down the phone, cutting off the person on the other end. He was sick and tired of having to deal with all of these incompetent louts. As he lit a cigarette, one of his men rolled in a cart of dust. Once he paid the henchman, he had him open the case, revealing rows upon rows of various different kinds of dust crystals. "We're going to need more men," he muttered. There was no way this miniscule amount was enough to satisfy his employer's quite significant demands.

"Or maybe one me," a voice said from the back of the room, yet seeming to echo all around.

Torchwick pulled out his cane, while the henchman pulled out a gun. Torchwick hit a button on his scroll with his free hand, signaling least six other men to come in with weapons drawn. "Show yourself," Torchwick demanded.

A man stepped forward. All he wore was a black, hooded cloak. His face was completely shrouded in shadow, and he carried staff with a single red crystal at the end. "Roman," the voice said, still reverberating eerily around them. "You really should warn your men not to play with guns." With a flick of his wrist, the guns in the hands of each of the men exploded, eliciting more than one scream of pain out of them. "They're dangerous."

Recovering, the men pulled out wicked looking red blades, and charged the mysterious man. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," he said. "Those aren't toys either." As the goons swung at him, he vanished, and the men managed to slice one another's throats instead, killing each of them. Reappearing above them, the man said mockingly, "Oh, such a pity." Then, looking up, he seemed to realize something. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I never introduced myself, how rude of me. I have many names, but you may simply call me the Necromancer."

"What do you want," Torchwick asked, tightening his grip on his cane.

"Me? Well, there are quite a few different things I want. But, if you're referring to why I'm here, I want to make you a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yes, as you can see, I'm more than capable in a fight. I'm willing to lend these services to your benefit."

"Alright, what do you want in return?"

"The head of Kristofer Schade."

* * *

**Wow, can't believe I managed to come out with this already. I wasn't quite sure how to capture the moment from the show in the beginning, but I did my best, and I hope it was satisfactory. I also can't believe the amount of support my last chapter received. I thank all of you SOOO much! I promise I'll try to write the next one as soon as I can, but it might take a little longer as I'm not sure where to go with it, as I can't do the four episode long Juandice arc (no pun intended), as it focuses on a Juane and Cardin, neither of which have much influence on this story at this point in time. But, once I've thought something up, I promise I won't waste any time in delivering! Once again, please leave any suggestions, comments, etc. in a review or in a PM. (I'd really like it if some people did. I really have no idea how good and/or bad this story is, all I have to go by is the view count. Actual feedback would be greatly appreciated.)**


	7. Character Info

**Well, since we just got to the end of what I'm gonna call "The Initiation Arc", I figured this would be the best place to put this. This is essentially a bio page for each of my characters. So that I don't spoil anything, I won't put anything that won't be revealed until later chapters. But, as the info gets released, I'll update this page.**

* * *

**Kristofer Schade (**Kris-tu-fir Shayd**)**

Team: SAMRI (Leader)

Race: Faunus (monkey tail)

Weapon(s) name: N/A

Weapons: Two solid steel cudgels about 1 ¼ ft. long, no special abilities

Semblance: Can sense when/where objects will impact before they've begun to even move

Personality: Strong-willed, occasionally witty, yet still down to earth (so to speak).

History Bio: Kristofer is from the planet Earth. However, it's not the Earth you and I know. It's an Earth that's constantly at war. It's essentially a never ending World War. Kristofer was part of a special program where young children were taken in at the age of ten, and were exposed to extensive training that would turn them into essentially super soldiers by the time they were old enough to enter combat. During his first mission, everything went horribly wrong and he found himself diving through a portal just to save his life. He woke up in Remnant without any memories up to the point where he was called to duty. This may be a case of mild Disassociative Amnesia. After arriving, he became involved in fighting off a group of thugs, the result of which was being accepted into Beacon. There he became friends with Artie and Mack Noctis, Rachael Umbra, and Ila Seraphim (as well as the leader of their team).

**Artie Noctis (Ahr-tee Nok-tiss)**

Team: SAMRI

Race: Faunus (raccoon tail)

Weapon(s) name: Messernacht (Mess-ir-nawkt)

Weapons: Bracers containing 6 blades which can up from the bracer, fanning out around central disc. These discs (which are attached via magnetic clamp) can be released from the bracers, allowing them to be thrown. If thrown in the right way, they can loop around and be recaptured by the clamp. While not as practical, they _can _be used as melee weapons, as well as shields if needed.

Semblance: Can manipulate the wind to an extent. Generally uses this ability to perfectly loop the discs back to him once they've been thrown.

Personality: Outgoing, loyal to a fault when it comes to friends and family, very friendly, very mild-mannered "ladies' man", considered more "cool" than his brother,

History Bio: Artimus (strongly prefers to go by Artie) is the twin brother of Mac Noctis. As Faunus, he and his brother have experienced their fair share of racism and discrimination.

**Rachael Umbra (**Ray-chul Uhm-bruh**)**

Team: SAMRI

Race: Human

Weapon(s) name: Deathstrike

Weapon(s): Dual barreled, pump action shot gun that can split apart into twin shortswords

Semblance: Can make short-mid distance teleports, maximum of 500ft. The farther the distance, the more of her aura it uses up, and the longer the interval before she can teleport again. A max distant teleport will drain her of almost all of her energy. Short distance teleports (50 to maybe 75 ft. jumps) can be made with ease, using up almost no aura, and has minimal lag between teleports (2-3 seconds)

Personality: Very kind, willing to sacrifice herself to save another person, yet also extremely hyperactive. Thoroughly enjoys the thrill of combat, she lives to destroy any and all Grimm she comes across without remorse.

History Bio: Became best friend of Ila Seraphim after saving her from being beaten to death.

**Mac Noctis (**Mak Noktis**)**

Team: SAMRI

Race: Faunus (Raccoon tail)

Weapon(s) name: N/A

Weapon(s): Bracers that can emit 2 foot long energy blades that can cut through steel like a knife through butter, can also be made to rapidly fire energy pulses

Semblance: N/A

Personality: Reserved, yet not silent. Much like his brother, he highly values loyalty. Unlike his brother, he is more by the book, tends to focus more on education than anything outgoing or wild. When not studying, he practices his form and technique, trying to get as close to perfection as possible.

Bio History: Mac is the twin brother of Artie Noctis. As Faunus, he and his brother have experienced their fair share of racism and discrimination.

**Ila Seraphim (I-luh Sayr-uh-feem)**

Team: SAMRI

Race: Faunus (Fox ears)

Weapon(s) name: Coelestis (Chay-less-tiss)

Weapon(s): Stylized bow w/arrows, the bow can transform into a staff with a blade at either end curved in opposite directions

Semblance: Can control the exact location that any projectile (bullet, rock, arrow, etc.) launched from her person will land (accurate down to the millimeter)

Personality: Shy, quiet, constantly apologizing. Changes drastically when in combat, becomes cool, calculating, and deadly.

Bio History: Experienced very heavy harassing and discrimination extremely early on in life (starting at three years old!) due to her Faunus heritage in combination with being forced to attend schools whose attendees were very predominantly human. All of the putting down she experienced forced her into the meek, shy girl she is today. At five years old, the hatred towards "people like her" reached such a level, that when she accidentally tripped and fell into a boy; he and his friends beat her to the brink of death. As she lay there after they left, waiting to die, she was helped by Rachael Umbra. Rachael saved her life that day, and the two had been best friends ever since.

**The Necromancer**

Team: N/A

Race: N/A

Weapon(s) name: N/A

Weapon(s): Staff with red crystal at end, use is unclear at the present time

Semblance: N/A*

Personality: Seen to have a dark sense of humor.

Bio History: N/A

*_Though he doesn't have a semblance, he is shown to have powers. So far, he has been shown to be able to detonate the Dust within guns, as well as phase between dimensions._

* * *

**Okay, okay. I know, this is a poor excuse for content after so long of an absence. Ever since college started up, I've had less and less time for this. Not to mention that I've had a bunch of technical issues. First of all, my laptop's wifi adapter just up and died (luckily it was under warranty). Secondly, I had to go through a factory reset of my laptop before we could determine whether or not it was a hardware malfunction, so I transferred all of my files to a flash drive. Well, simply put, that flash drive now has a couple gigs of inaccessible info. It just doesn't pop up when I open the drive, but it is shown to be taking up space. So, I've had to deal with that as well.**


	8. Chapter 6: The Stray

**Alright, I know I'm skipping quite a few episodes. The problem with them is, due to their nature, their input into this story would just create three chapters of filler. If there's anything I absolutely despise in a book, or TV series, it's filler (unless it's so good you forget you're watching/reading filler). It adds nothing to the story and just serves as a way to buy the writer more time to come up with something decent that continues the story. If enough people ask for it, I will go back and write the chapters for those episodes. But for now, I'm skipping them.**

* * *

Kristofer was in awe as he looked around the city. The best description for his behavior would be the "kid in a candy store" analogy. He and his team had taken a trip down to the city of Vale on their day off to watch the preparations for the upcoming Vytal Festival.

Rachael couldn't help but laugh. "Kristofer," she tried, but he didn't hear her. So, she snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Kristofer, hey Kristofer!" Once she got his attention, she continued, "What's with you? It's like you've never been to a festival before."

Lowering his head slightly, he explained, "Well, that's because I haven't. We were always at war, there was never any occasion for such celebrations."

"I'm sorry," Rachael apologized, after receiving angry glares from her other teammates. "I forgot."

"It's alright," Kristofer said, looking up with a smile. "All of that's behind me now. Nothing but smooth sailing ahead."

The rest of the morning went rather smoothly. Despite the lack of any finished attractions, the team managed to have plenty of fun. As they walked past the docks, a ship horn caught their attention.

"Ooh!" Rachael exclaimed. "Some of the students from the other kingdoms are arriving! Let's go see!" No sooner had she said that than she had begun sprinting towards the pier, the rest of the team in tow.

Suddenly, Kristofer stopped, turning his head towards a darkened alley.

Ila, who was behind Kristofer, quickly sidestepped around him before coming to a stop. "Kristofer?" she asked. "What's the matter?" She received no response. Instead, Kristofer began walking towards the entrance to the alley. Looking around, Ila realized the others had already disappeared. Sighing, she started after him.

The difference between the alley and just outside was literally like night and day. While outside was warm and sunny, the alley was cold and dark. No sunlight reached the ground here. The place seemed flat out forbidding.

Nervously, Ila gripped Kristofer's arm. The latter, who seemed to be in a trance, did not respond. As they walked, Ila shrieked as a rat brushed by her leg.

Finally taking notice, Kristofer quickly grabbed Ila, covering her mouth with his hand. "Shhh," he said, looking down the alleyway. Then, turning to her, he noticed the sheer terror in her eyes. Quickly, he let go of her. "S-sorry. I didn't mean…" He lowered his head, embarrassed. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"N-no, I think I'm okay." Taking a step closer, she asked, "Kristofer, what's wrong?"

"I don't know exactly. It just fee…" Before could finish his sentence, something leapt out of the shadows at him. Kristofer narrowly evaded, jumping above the attacker and landing behind it, pulling out his weapons.

As quick as she could, Ila pulled out a light, fumbling with the switch. When she finally got it turned on, it revealed a brown haired girl in a skintight black leather suit. Upon closer inspection, something seemed to be off. It was almost as if the girl wasn't quite there.

"Katie?" Kristofer whispered in shock. Before Ila could ask, the girl snarled and again lunged at Kristofer. Seeing that he wasn't going to move, Ila whipped out Coelestis, using it to slice the girl in two. As the two halves of the girl flew apart, they quickly disintegrated into wisps of black smoke.

"Wha…" Ila asked, eyes blinking in shock.

"Ila, behind you!"

Ila had just enough time to move out of the way as a man with a blade in hand fell from above.

Without wasting any time, Kristofer brought his cudgel down on the guy's head, knocking him out.

"Is he…dead?" Ila asked.

Kristofer crouched down, rolling the body over. Checking for a pulse, he said, "No, just unconscious. I wonder who he is."

Ila stepped closer and gasped.

"What is it?"

"His mask, and that slashed wolf marking on his chest. He's a member of the White Fang!"

"The terrorist group? Why would they want to attack Faunus like you and me?"

"I…I don't know…"

"Well," Kristofer said, standing up. "Regardless, we should report this to the police."

As the pair walked towards the other end of the alley, Ila couldn't help but think about what Kristofer said. Finally, she got up the courage to ask, "Kristofer?"

"Hmmm?"

"Who's Katie?"

Kristofer thought for a moment. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure. I know she's someone from before…well… Anyways, I feel like she was someone important to me, but, I don't know why."

By this time, the two had arrived at the end of the alley. As they left the darkness behind them, the pair found a store with evidence of breaking and entry that had been blocked off by crime tape.

"Well, that was convenient," Kristofer grinned. Walking up to one of the police officers, he asked, "Pardon me officer, I know you're busy, but could I talk to you for a moment?"

"Better keep it quick kid."

"My friend and I were just attacked by a member of the White Fang. We managed to knock him out and we left him in an alley back there."

This caught the officer's attention. "The White Fang you say? Are you sure?"

Both Ila and Kristofer nodded their heads.

Stroking his beard, the officer said, "I'll send someone to investigate. Thanks for letting me know." Then, as an afterthought, he asked, "Neither of you got hurt or anything?"

"No sir."

"Good."

As the officer walked off, Kristofer heard a familiar voice ask, "What happened here?"

Turning to look, he found Ruby and her teammates talking to the other police officer there.

"Robbery," the officer said. "Second dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."

"That's terrible," Yang whispered.

"They left all the money again," the first cop said.

"Yeah, it just doesn't make a lick of sense," the other replied. "Who needs that much dust?"

"I don't know. Ya know what I mean?"

"You thinking the, uh, the White Fang?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get payed enough."

"The White Fang again?" Kristofer asked.

The girls finally took notice of Kristofer and Ila.

"Oh, hey guys!" Ruby exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"We were attacked by a member of the White Fang," Ila explained.

"That hardly seems likely," Blake quickly replied. "How can you be so sure about that?"

"W-well, I, uh…" Ila stammered, holding her arm in embarrassment.

"He had the mark on his shirt as well as the mask," Kristofer stepped in. "Not to mention that he _was_ a Faunus."

"Anyone could put on a mask," Blake shot back defensively.

"What's with you, Blake?" Weiss asked. "Why are you trying to protect that band of Faunus scum?"

"Now wait just a minute," Kristofer began, but was interrupted by a commotion coming from the loading docks. Running over, the group found a blonde haired Faunus with a long tail similar to Kristofer's hanging from a light above the pier.

"You no good stowaway!" one of the workers on the boat shouted.

The Faunus began peeling a banana. "Hey! A no good stowaway would've been caught," he quipped. "I'm a great stowaway." As soon as he said this, he had to dodge a rock thrown at him by one of the cops from the crime scene.

"Hey! Get down from there this instant," the cop said.

However, instead of complying, the Faunus threw a banana in his face. He then jumped down, laughing as if it were a game before running off, cops in pursuit.

"Well," Yang said to Weiss. "You came to see the competition, and there it goes."

"Quick!" Weiss exclaimed. "We have to observe him!" With that, team RWBY vanished in pursuit of the stowaway.

Kristofer and Ila just watched them go, dumbstruck at what they'd just seen. "Well," Kristofer said. "That was a thing."

* * *

**To be honest, that was surprisingly fun to write. I am unsure as to why, but it was. But, the chapter I'm REALLY looking forward to writing is the next one. I'm just going to say it now, that one may take me a while (or it might not, we'll see). It ****_will_**** have a fight in it, and usually those take longer for me to write, but I have so much more planned for that chapter as well. It won't be the final chapter, but it will still be pretty big. If you enjoyed it, let me know in a review/pm. Or, if there was something you didn't like, I'd appreciate any feedback as to how I can improve this story. That's my goal for writing on this site after all; I want to improve my writing skills as much as I can in preparation for possibly releasing my own original books.**


	9. Chapter 7: Black and White

**Uh, yeah, you know how I said it would be awhile before the next chapter came out? Well, turns out I was wrong. Once I started writing, I just kept going until I finished. So…yeah…it's finished. Enjoy :)**

* * *

_Team RWBY chased after the Faunus, but were stopped when they collided with a girl with bright orange hair. They determined that this girl (who was named Penny), though odd, was intending to participate in the tournament, giving Weiss an idea._

_"Wait a minute," she said, grabbing Penny by the shoulders. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed…rapscallion?"_

_"The who?" Penny asked in confusion._

_"The filthy Faunus from the boat!"_

_"Why do you keep saying that," Blake demanded, angrily pacing towards Weiss. "Huh? Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate. He's a person!"_

_"Oh, I'm sorry," Weiss said with mock apology. "Would you like me to stop referring to this trash can as a trash can, or this lamp post as a lamp post?!"_

_"Stop it!"_

_"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him some time, he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang."_

_"You ignorant little brat!" Blake exclaimed before stalking away from Weiss._

_"How dare you talk to me like that?" Weiss replied, pursuing Blake. "I am your teammate."_

_"_You_ are a judgmental little girl."_

_"What in the world makes you say that?!"_

_"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group, solely based on his species, makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be."_

**_Jump to Team RWBY's dorm room…_**

_"So you admit it, the White Fang _is_ just a radical group of terrorists."_

_"That's not what I meant, and you know it."_

_"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem."_

_"That _is_ the problem."_

_"You realize you are defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."_

_"There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate humanity so much?! It's because of people like Cardin, people like _you_ that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"_

_"People like _me_?"_

_"You're discriminatory!"_

_"I'm a victim!" There was a stunned pause. Crossing over to the windowsill, Weiss continued quietly, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I watched family and friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car of dust stolen. And every day, my father would come home furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood!"_

_Crossing over to Weiss, Ruby attempted to put a hand on her shoulder. "Weiss, I…"_

_"No!" she exclaimed, turning back to Blake. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang?! It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"_

_Furious, Blake shouted, "WELL, MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!"_

_The moment the words left her mouth, Blake instantly regretted it. Weiss, in shock, took a step back, mouth agape._

_Blake also took a step back with her head down. "I…" Without finishing what she was about to say, she bolted out of the room._

**_Elsewhere…_**

"So," Kristofer muttered as he and Ila walked through Beacon's front gates, returning from their rather eventful day in Vale. "What do we do now?"

Ila looked over at him questioningly. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, we _were_ just attacked. I know going to the police was the right move to make, but, it seemed like that assassin was after us specifically. As long as someone might have a target on our backs, I don't feel safe. Do you?"

After a moment of hesitation, Ila shook her head in agreement. "So, do you intend to go after the White Fang?"

"Yep."

"W-well, count me in!"

"Ila?" Kristofer asked, mildly surprised.

"That assassin tried to kill me too. I want to know why. Not to mention that I…" she trailed off, turning her head away and clutching her hand to her chest.

"You what?"

"N-nothing. Never…never mind."

Kristofer shrugged. "Well, even if we plan on going after them, there's still the issue of how we're going to find them. Any ideas?"

Ila thought for a minute before shaking her head.

"Well," Kristofer said. "I do. Remember that Faunus from the boat earlier? Well, though he might not be a part of a terrorist group, he doesn't seem to always be on the right side of the law. People like that can easily find criminal groups, so, if we can find him, he can help lead us to them." Rubbing his chin, he then added, "The problem is actually finding him though."

"I don't see any problem with that," a voice off to their right said. Turning, the pair found the Faunus sitting in a tree.

"How much did you hear?" Kristofer asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

The Faunus shrugged. "Enough. Those jerks in the White Fang give us a bad name, so you can count me in. I'm Sun by the way. Sun Wukong."

"I'm Kristofer, and this is Ila."

As he said this, the three spotted a figure running from the dorms. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was a very distraught Blake. She stopped in front of a statue and just sat there staring up at it. Then, after wiping away a couple tears, she slowly began to untie the large bow on her head, revealing a pair of cat ears.

Kristofer looked over at Sun and noticed a sort of longing look in his eyes. "Hey," he whispered. "Why don't you go comfort her? We'll be right behind you."

"You serious?" When Kristofer nodded, he smiled and went over to her, saying, "I knew you would look better without the bow."

Surprised, Blake looked back at Sun, Kristofer and Ila, and then smiled sadly.

"I'm Sun, by the way," Sun explained. "So, if you want, you could crash with me for tonight." When Blake nodded, he quickly turned back to Kristofer and Ila saying, "Of course, you guys are welcome as well."

Kristofer looked at Ila, who had done the same to him. When she shook her head, he turned back to Sun, saying "Thanks, but no thanks. Our team will be worried if we don't show up. How about we meet again tomorrow?"

"That sounds good. How about the Nature Town Café at 7:00?"

"We'll see you there."

**_The next morning…_**

Kristofer and Ila managed to sneak out without being noticed by the rest of their team. As they walked across the campus, much to their dismay, they ran into the fighting instructor, Professor Port. However, he merely laughed, muttering something about young love before continuing on.

When the pair reached the café, they found Blake and Sun already there. Sun, who was holding his cup of coffee with his tail, waved at the other two as they walked in, while Blake, who was once again wearing her bow, didn't even acknowledge them.

After she sat down, Ila asked Blake, "H-how are you feeling today?"

When Blake didn't respond, Sun said, "She hasn't said much since we found her last night."

Right as he said that, Blake sighed and asked, "So, you want to know more about me?"

"Finally, she speaks!" Sun exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "All you've given me is small talk and weird looks." As she glared at him, he said, "Yeah, like that."

Blake rolled her eyes, allowing herself a small smile. "Are you all familiar with the White Fang?"

"Of course," Sun said. "I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard about them. Stupid, 'holier than thou' creeps who use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks if you ask me."

"Well, I was…once a member of the White Fang."

Everyone did a spit take. "Y-you were a member of the White Fang?!" Ila exclaimed, quickly clamping her hand over her mouth, looking around to make sure no one else had heard her. Luckily, they were the only ones there.

"That's right. I was a member for most of my life actually. You can almost say I was born into it. Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and the Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. And I actually thought we were making a difference. But, I was just a youthful optimist.

'Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor, and the worst part was; it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect, out of fear.

'So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence. Instead I would dedicate my life to becoming a huntress. So, here I am, a criminal hiding in plain view. All with the help of a little black bow."

Everyone just sat there stunned. Finally, Sun, in a surprisingly serious tone of voice, asked, "So, have you told your friends any of this?"

…

"Hey, Mac, have you seen Kristofer anywhere today?" Arty asked as he put on his bracers.

Mac shook his head. "I can't say I have."

"I can't find Ila either," Rachael added.

Mac rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps they're together? Who knows?" He grinned. "Maybe they're sweet for each other."

"You know," Arty said, smiling as well. "I could actually see that."

As the trio walked down the hall, they encountered Team RWBY (minus Blake).

"Are you sure you didn't see her this morning?" Ruby asked, worry lacing her voice.

"Unfortunately, yes," Yang replied.

"Do you really think she would show up after what she said last night?" Weiss demanded. "You heard what she said."

"G'day, girls," Arty said, walking up to them. "Is something the matter?"

Ruby looked at the rest of her team before saying, "Yes. Blake and Weiss had an argument last night. Blake ran off, and we haven't seen her since."

"Wait," Mac said. "Do you know approximately what time Blake left?"

Taken aback, Ruby said, "Well, uh, maybe around 6:00 or so, I think."

"That's not long before Kristofer and Ila returned," Mac muttered. "I almost wonder if…" He looked up to see everyone staring at him. "Oh, sorry. If you'd like, we could help you look for her?"

"That would be great!" Ruby exclaimed.

"But, don't you need Kristofer's permission?" Weiss asked.

This time, it was the others' turn to feel slightly uneasy.

"Well," Mac began.

"He and Ila went missing this morning," Rachael blurted out.

Mac nodded. "I was just thinking that perhaps they're with Blake."

"For their sakes, I hope not," Weiss stated darkly.

"Come again?" Arty asked.

"She's a member of the White Fang," Weiss explained.

"Are you certain?" Mac asked.

"Well," Yang explained. "She didn't necessarily outright say it."

"Don't worry," Arty said reassuringly. "We'll help you find her."

…

"So," Kristofer asked Blake. The four Faunus had left the café and were now together down the street. "You don't think the White Fang is behind these robberies?"

"No," Blake replied. "I'm sure of it. They've never needed this much dust before."

Sun stopped, an idea popping into his head. "What if they did?" Slowly drawing out each word, as though he was thinking of what he wanted to say as he said it, he continued, "I mean, the only way to prove that they didn't do it is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there, right?"

"You didn't hurt yourself coming up with that, did you?" Kristofer quipped, earning a giggle from Ila and a punch in the shoulder from Sun.

Rolling her eyes, Blake explained, "The problem is, I don't know where that place might be."

"Well," Sun said, "While I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about off-loading a _huge_ shipment of dust coming in from Atlas."

"How huge?" Kristofer asked.

"_Huge_," he responded, spreading out his arms in emphasis. "Big Schnee Co. freighter."

"Are you sure?"

Sun smiled.

…

"Thanks anyways," Yang called to the shopkeeper as she, Weiss, and Mac left the shop. Once outside, she said, "This is hopeless." After a moment, she added, "You really don't care if we find her, do you Weiss?"

"Don't be stupid," Weiss replied. "Of course I do." Turning away, she muttered, "I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her."

"I don't think you need to be," Mac piped up. "Though quiet and mysterious on the surface, I can tell that deep down, Blake is a very nice girl. I honestly don't think she would still be a member of that group. Besides, if you remember, they weren't always violent."

"There's one problem," Weiss said. "The innocent never run."

**_That night…_**

Blake, Ila and Kristofer lay on top of a shipping crate, silently monitoring the docks below. As they watched, Sun returned with a bag of apples. "Did I miss anything?" he asked.

"Not really," Ila reported, her fox ears twitching in what could either be nervousness, or anticipation.

"They offloaded all the crates from the boat," Blake explained. "Now they're just sitting there."

"Cool," Sun replied. Putting the bag down he added, "I stole all of you some food."

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" Blake asked incredulously.

"Hey! Weren't you in some kind of cult or something?" After receiving Blake's death glare, he quickly stated, "Okay, too soon."

Suddenly, a large airship, much like the one Torchwick escaped in when he escaped Kristofer and Ruby, flew over them, landing in a clearing among the all of the shipping crates. Once it landed, out walked a man clad in white, wearing a feral-looking mask. On his back was a red image of a wolf with three bloody slashes in the background.

"Oh no," Blake whispered.

"Is that them?" Kristofer asked.

"Yes, it's them."

"You really didn't think it was them, did you," Sun asked.

Blake shook her head. "No, I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right."

"Hey!" a somewhat familiar voice shouted. "What's the hold up?!" Roman Torchwick slowly walked down the ramp. "We're not the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so, why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"

"Isn't the White Fang a Faunus only group?" Kristofer asked.

Ila nodded.

"This isn't right," Blake said in shock. "The White Fang would _never_ work with a human." She stood up and pulled her sword out of its sheathe. "Especially not one like him."

"Hold on," Kristofer started as Sun asked, "Wait, what are you doing?"

Without responding, Blake jumped to the ground, slowly sneaking up on Torchwick.

Kristofer sighed. "Ila?"

"Yes?"

"You see that crane over there?" He pointed to a crane that overlooked the entire clearing where the airship had landed. "I want you to use that as a vantage point in case things get ugly."

"Yes sir," Ila replied with a mock salute before dashing off.

"Sun, let's go see if we can't give Blake some backup."

Blake peered around a corner, watching Torchwick disciplining someone carrying a cable.

"No you idiot," he said. "This isn't a leash."

As he turned his back to her, Blake swiftly moved forward, grabbing Torchwick and putting her blade against his throat.

"What the?!" Torchwick exclaimed. Realizing what happened, he said, "Oh for f…"

"Nobody move!" Blake ordered, cutting Torchwick off.

Two nearby thugs pulled out their weapons, one a sword and the other a gun.

"Woah!" Torchwick said as more Faunus surrounded them. "Take it easy there little lady."

Quickly, with her free hand, Blake untied her bow and threw it into the wind. "Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?"

Slightly embarrassed, the members of the White Fang lowered their weapons.

Torchwick chuckled. "Look kid, didn't you get the memo?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together."

"Tell me what it is," she said, applying more pressure to Torchwick's throat. "Or I'll put an end to your little operation."

On cue, several more airships flew overhead, shining their searchlights upon the pair.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a 'little' operation," Torchwick shouted above the engines' roar. While Blake was distracted, he managed to point his cane at the ground behind him and fire it, knocking Blake back and freeing him from her grip.

Turning back to Blake, Torchwick began firing shot after shot at her. Running, Blake used her semblance to leave shadows of herself behind to take the hits. Quickly, she dashed out of sight behind a crate.

"Here, kitty kitty," Torchwick said, walking after her, only to get a face full of banana peel. Tossing it aside angrily, he looked up just in time for Sun to land on him, using Torchwick's face as a springboard before landing on his feet. Whirling around, Sun said, "Leave her alone."

As Torchwick got up, more than half a dozen armed thugs jumped out of an airship, surrounding Sun. "You're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you kid?" Torchwick quipped.

"He's definitely brighter than you, Torchwick," Kristofer said, walking up behind him.

"Oh, hey kid," Torchwick said. "Where's your little red girlfriend?"

Kristofer shrugged. "Doesn't matter." Looking up at the crane, he made an odd motion with his hand. As he did so, several glowing yellow arrows flew at the thugs, quickly taking them out.

"What?!" Torchwick exclaimed. In his shock, he barely had enough time to block Kristofer as he swung his cudgels at the criminal. Knocking him back, Torchwick fired several shots, forcing Kristofer to retreat.

Meanwhile, Sun had to deal with another half dozen of Torchwick's lackeys. Once again surrounded, he pulled out a stick which unfolded into a bo. Slamming it on the ground, he created a shockwave that knocked several of the enemies off their feet. The first to recover ran at him with a sword, which Sun quickly deflected before bringing the bo down on the guy's head. As several more ran at him, he whirled the weapon around, rapidly hitting each of them on the head.

Torchwick, with Kristofer momentarily taken out of the equation, turned his attention back to Sun. Raising his cane, he fired a shot at Sun. In response, Sun began rapidly spinning his weapon, causing the shot to be absorbed. Growling in frustration, Torchwick ran at Sun, cane raised like a club. As he dashed towards the Faunus, he barely had enough time to dodge Blake as she lunged towards him.

Sun dashed over to assist, splitting his weapon into a pair of nunchucks with shotgun barrels at the ends. Whenever the ends aimed towards Torchwick, he'd fire. The momentum of the nunchucks as they swung was what reloaded the chambers. Torchwick found himself fighting enemies on both sides. He had to keep alternating between Sun and Blake, constantly on the defensive.

Finally, Torchwick found an opening. As he parried a strike from Blake, he kicked her in the gut. While she was occupied, he fired a shot at her, the explosion sending her flying into a crate, creating a giant dent.

"Noooo!" Sun shouted, blindly jumping at Torchwick, who promptly fired again, sending him flying as well.

"Too easy," Torchwick said, cackling maniacly.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Kristofer said, landing in front of Torchwick.

"What are you gonna do? Run away again?"

"I _will_ run," Kristofer said. "Just not in the direction you expect." With that, he began sprinting full speed at Torchwick, arms thrown back behind him. As Torchwick fired, Kristofer expertly sidestepped the shots without even breaking his stride. Right before he reached Torchwick however, a shadowy figure flew at him from the side, pinning him on the ground.

Looking up, Kristofer saw what appeared to be the same creature from the day before. The girl, snarled as she held him down.

"Well done, Katie," a voice said. Kristofer couldn't pinpoint exactly where the voice was coming from, as it echoed around the dock, seeming to come from everywhere at once.

Suddenly, the Necromancer materialized above him. "Hello again, Kristofer."

Kristofer gasped as he suddenly remembered everything.

_"Hey, Kristofer," Justin shouted. "Come on in, the water's fine."_

_"I'm good," Kristofer responded. "I'd rather just rest here in the sand. I'm still exhausted from the combat exam the other day."_

_Justin shrugged. "Suit yourself."_

_Kristofer watched as Justin walked down to the ocean. This was an extraordinarily rare occasion for them. As candidates of the N.U.S.A.'s Project Phoenix, they were never allowed to have any fun. Now, having each passed the final exam, both Kristofer and Justin were given a week to indulge themselves in whatever way they saw fit before being shipped out to who knows where. As Kristofer thought about this, he noticed his CO in full uniform walking towards him._

_Scrambling to his feet, Kristofer put his arm up in salute as they reached him._

_"At ease, soldiers," the commander said as Justin ran back from the surf, imitating Kristofer's form exactly. "I'm sorry that I have to bother the both of you on your week off, but there's been a recent development that cannot wait. The both of you are having your vacations suspended until further notice._

_"Yes sir!"_

_The CO lead the pair (once they had donned appropriate clothing) into the Daytona Naval Base's briefing room. Inside the room were a red haired girl, and a bespectacled blonde haired boy. Kristofer recognized them both as fellow members of Project Phoenix._

_"Sergeant Schade," the commander began. "I know you are already acquainted with Lieutenant Wirsch. Allow me to introduce you to the other members of your squad." He moved over to the girl. "This is Lieutenant Katie Lee. She will be your computer expert. She is the top of her class when it comes to hacking, splicing, all that stuff that old guys like me don't know anything about." He chuckled at this. Moving over to the other soldier, he said, "This is Lieutenant Michael Senpaison. Don't let the glasses put you off. He's one of the best snipers to come out of Phoenix."_

_Once everyone was introduced, the CO addressed the squad. "Now I'm sure you all are wondering why you're here. Our intel has identified the location of the Black Talon's leader. Nothing is really known about him other than he's very dangerous, and not to be underestimated. Your mission is to eliminate him, whatever the cost._

_We will be transporting you via the new VX-38T _Condor_. This aircraft was special designed for stealth insertions. It carries its passengers up into the atmosphere. Once it reaches orbit, it launches a stealth probe to go and scope out a safe LZ. Once it finds one, the passengers are then transported to the surface via an experimental teleporter that the spooks in engineering developed. It has been tested, and there are no side effects, so you can relax._

_Once you reach the surface, you'll be on your own. It was difficult enough for us to obtain the information about the target's location, let alone get a schematic of the facility. So, you'll be operating blind. Once you eliminate the target, you will have to improvise an escape route._

_As for armament, we will let you choose your weapons. All weapons must be silenced, and no explosives except for C4 in the case of an emergency. You will be departing within the hour, so I suggest you get yourselves equipped. This is our one chance to cut the head off this beast, and we will not waste it. So, once you choose your weapons, return here immediately. You are dismissed._

_…_

_Kristofer and his squad strapped themselves into the hybrid craft. Looking around, he approved of the weapons everyone had chosen. Michael had chosen the XG-41 "Spectre" Phase Rifle with Thermal Scope. Both Justin and Katie had picked ER-24 Energy Rifles. Kristofer, being the odd one out, chose two diamond reinforced steel cudgels. Everyone carried three charges of C4 with detonators, and everyone with guns carried an M-21E2 Plasma Pistol. As the craft took off, everyone cycled through their HUDs, making sure everything was in working order._

_At 42,000ft, the craft jolted as it swapped from jet to rocket propulsion. Not long after they started, the engines stopped, signaling that they had achieved orbit. After approximately fifteen minutes, the light in the cargo bay turned red to signal imminent teleportation. A countdown then began. As it hit zero, everyone seemed to fade away. The feeling of the teleport wasn't as bad as one would expect, but it was unsettling due to the process causing those being teleported to temporarily be half in one location and half in another._

_Once back on earth, the squad fanned out, checking for patrols. When none were found, they settled into formation with Kristofer in the lead and Michael in the rear. However, it proved pointless as the complex was devoid of any guards whatsoever. However, they had a job to do and didn't plan to evacuate until they verified either the absence or death of the Black Talon leader. Once they reached the main computer room, Katie successfully identified the location of the target, as well as the hangar for their escape route._

_The target was in a massive room illuminated only by glowing runes of varying different shades on the walls and floor. All over the room were shelves containing crystals of different shapes and colors as well as jars of some kind of colored dust. "Katie," Kristofer whispered. "What do you make of this?"_

_"I don't know," she responded. "I've never seen anything like it. But, if I had to take a guess, he's either crazy, or he's some kind of necromancer."_

_Michael scoffed. "There's no such thing as necromancy."_

_"Oh contraire, my bespectacled guest," a voice said. "Your lady friend is quite right about the latter. As for the first, I'd prefer to say that I'm creative."_

_As the speaker was identified, Michael brought up his rifle, firing a single shot. The shot would've struck home if it weren't for the fact that the man he was targeting seemingly became intangible as the shot was fired, passing harmlessly through his head._

_The man sighed. "You really shouldn't have done that." He stuck out his hand at Michael, seemingly trying to grab him. The instant he did this, Michael grasped at his throat, unable to get any air. Then, raising his arm just a bit, he lifted Michael off the ground. Swinging his arm sent Michael flying against the wall. As he hit the ground, Michael began to disappear, a purplish light flowing from his disintegrating body into a staff in the Necromancer's hand. The crystal at the head of the staff started to pulse with a dim purple glow that became brighter as Michael slowly disappeared._

_"No!" Katie screamed, raising her energy rifle and firing. However, all the shots harmlessly passed through the Necromancer._

_"Looks like you'll be sharing the fate of your friend. But first, let's get rid of those weapons, I tire of having to see them." With a wave of his hand, all of the guns in the room crumpled into tiny balls of metal. "Now, for you my dear, I've got something very special." Michael had, at this point, completely disappeared into the staff. The Necromancer then aimed the staff at the floor, shooting a purple beam. That beam slowly formed into a humanoid shape until Michael was sitting there on the floor. Yet something seemed off, like he wasn't quite there. Turning towards Katie, he then snarled before pouncing at her knocking her to the ground._

_Katie screamed in terror. "Michael! It's me! Michael!"_

_Quickly turning to Justin, Kristofer said, "Retreat, we can't fight against this."_

_"Agreed!"_

_With that, the pair turned and ran._

_"You won't get far," the Necromancer's voice echoed throughout the hallways._

_As Kristofer and Justin ran, the hallways ahead of them seemed to change as they went until they had no idea which way was the exit. As they turned a corner, Justin tripped and fell. Before Kristofer could turn back, Michael had pounced on Justin. "Go!" Justin shouted. "It's too late for me, just go!" And so, without looking back, Kristofer continued onwards, tears starting to fill his eyes._

_Kristofer nearly slammed into a wall as he veered around a corner. He didn't dare look back at his pursuers, for fear that he might trip as well in the eerie twilight that suddenly filled this seemingly endless labyrinth of concrete hallways._

_Careening around another corner, he nearly ran into Katie. What had happened to Michael had seemingly happened to her as well._

_Kristofer narrowly dodged to the side as the mimicry of his former comrade lunged at him, snarling like some rabid beast. Quickly whirling around, he brought one of his two cudgels down on the back of the abomination's head before continuing his flight down the hallway._

_"Running is futile," the Necromancer's voice reverberated around him. "In the end, you will die like the rest of your squad."_

_"Not on my watch," Kristofer muttered to himself._

_In the distance, a light appeared in the semi-darkness. As Kristofer approached it, he found it to be a swirling white vortex in the middle of a doorway. Looking back, he saw two more shadows of his now deceased comrades running full tilt towards him down the corridor. Without another second of hesitation, he threw himself into the vortex._

_"__NOOO!__" the voice screamed in fury, but it was too late. Kristofer had vanished, the vortex blinking out_ _behind him._

Snapping back to reality, Kristofer began struggling against the shadow of Katie with more than determination than before. Much to the Necromancer's surprise, Kristofer managed to throw her off of himself. Cudgels in hand, he charged the mockery of his squad mate, delivering the killing blow.

"Well done," the Necromancer said. "However, that is futile." Raising his arm, he went to grip Kristofer like he had done to Michael. However, nothing happened. "What?!"

Taking the advantage, Kristofer charged at the Necromancer, who barely managed to teleport out of the way. "Come back here, coward!" he demanded angrily.

Completely forgetting that Torchwick was standing right there, Kristofer was hit by a blast from Torchwick's cane. However, he managed to hold on to consciousness, and landed in a crouch before turning back to Torchwick. Charging forward, he forced Torchwick into melee combat. Due to his semblance, Kristofer gained the upper hand, knocking Torchwick's weapon out of his hand before pinning him to the ground.

"This'll be the end of you."

"I wouldn't if I were you," the Necromancer's voice said. "One wrong move and she falls."

Looking up, Kristofer found the Necromancer holding Ila over the edge of the crane by the throat. "No! Please, don't!" Quickly, he backed off from Torchwick, allowing him to get back up.

"You see, Kristofer," the Necromancer said. "There was no right move." With that, he let go.

"Ila!" Kristofer yelled. "No!" Running as fast as he could, he willed his feet to move even faster. Suddenly, he became a blur of speed as he ran and successfully caught Ila. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to stop, and wound up slamming into the side of a warehouse, knocking himself out cold.

"A second semblance…" the Necromancer whispered in shock. "This boy is full of surprises it seems." Louder, he said, "Torchwick, I will leave his extermination to you, as per our agreement." With that, he teleported away.

Torchwick muttered to himself angrily. His thought process was cut off however as a voice shouted, "Hey!"

Looking up, he spotted Ruby and Penny standing on top of a shipping crate. "Oh, there you are red!" he exclaimed. "But, isn't it a little past your bedtime?"

"Ruby?" Penny asked. "Is he your friend too?"

Turning back, Ruby said, "Penny, get back!"

Capitalizing on her distraction, Torchwick fired a shot, sending Ruby flying.

Face set with determination, Penny walked to the edge of the crate.

"Penny!" Ruby exclaimed. "Wait, stop!"

"Don't worry Ruby," Penny reassured her. "I'm combat ready."

As she said this, several blades emerged from her back, floating behind her. Jumping down, she launched three of the blades at the White Fang thugs on the ground, taking out one with each. When she landed, she swept the blades to both sides, effectively taking out each Faunus on either side of her. When several charged her, she sent the blades into a spinning circular deathtrap in front of her, taking two out, then, whirling them around her body; she attacked two others who had come up behind her. Looking back towards the nearest warehouse, she spotted over a dozen of them charging her. Turning, she launched the blades like a Frisbee, knocking all of them down like bowling pins.

Sun, who'd finally woken up was shocked as he saw this. But, he didn't lose a second as he went to make sure Blake was alright.

Meanwhile, three of the airships had begun a strafing run on Penny with their machine guns. Whirling the blades in front of her like a shield, Penny managed to reflect all the bullets. Looking behind her, she launched two blades backwards into a building. As she jumped, she was catapulted backwards until she was right in front of where the blades impacted. Then, dropping into a crouch, the remaining blades arranged themselves in a circle in front of her, blades pointed away from her body. They then began spinning, quickly accelerating until they created a massive green energy beam that destroyed the attacking airships.

Looking up, she spotted an airship taking off with a crate attached to its belly. Running up to it, (the two blades were still embedded in the wall of the warehouse) she launched six blades into the ship, effectively tethering it to her. Then, walking backwards, she actually began pulling the ship as it tried in vain to escape her grasp. Then, she yanked backwards, sending the airship crashing into a pile of crates.

Torchwick got himself into another airship. As it flew away, he muttered, "These kids just keep getting weirder."

Kristofer, who had regained consciousness, watched as Torchwick's airship flew away. Then, looking down at Ila, he vowed that he would defeat the Necromancer, no matter the cost.

* * *

**Um…yeah, so that was a thing. This chapter turned out WAAAYYY longer than I thought it would be. Not that that's a bad thing (unless it is). I really don't know what to say at this point. This might be the last chapter for a while. I need a break after writing this monster. But please, if you have any feedback, leave a review, or send me a personal message. I know I keep saying it, but I'd really appreciate it if I got some kind of response.**


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